”Silent Valley”, an original HBO series, directed by Marian Crișan

by Dana Medar

The premiere of the thriller mini-seriesSilent Valley takes part in the same period of time when another Romanian team is involved in making the second season of the Shadows TV series, which was a big success in 2015.
Just like Stay with Me and Shadows, Silent Valley has an original screenplay written by a foreign author for HBO. The story was adapted by the screenwriter Christian Barna for the Romanian realities and was directed by Marian Crișan, who was highly recommended for it by his previous thriller, Orizont.
An important group of HBO producers ensured the shooting conditions, but had also a creative input. The story is set somewhere nearBrașov, where the local mafia is involved in a crime, which is investigated by the Prosecution, the Police and DIICOT. The silent witnesses of the crime are two teenagers, surprised by the discovery of their sexuality. The two boys won`t say what they saw, because they would be forced to admit their own homosexuality. The two teenagers are played by the actors VladBălan and Theodor Șoptelea, who are both at their debut. The lead roles are played by RodicaLazăr (prosecutor Elena Zamfir) and EmilianOprea (policeman Robert Diaconescu). The cast includes also the actors MihaiCălin,CorneliuUlici, Alexandra Fasolă, Adrian Păduraru, Alina Berzunțeanu, Remus Mărgineanu, OvidiuNiculescu, BogdanSzolt (Orizont).
At the press conference, many questions were asked regarding the theme of homosexuality and of talking freely about it and the two actors were asked indirectly how they were able to play the erotic scenes, which were very discreetly and elegantly shot by the cinematographer Tudor Mircea.